


Morning exertions and violet delights

by fortunatelylori



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, One Shot, Porn With Plot, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 13:57:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21137837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortunatelylori/pseuds/fortunatelylori
Summary: Sidney and Charlotte are intent on enjoying their morning but Tom can always be depended on to ruin his brother's good time. A future one shot smutty fic of married Sidney and Charlotte, within the continuity of the season finale and hinting at developments that might have occured in the interim.





	Morning exertions and violet delights

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompted by tumblr's and-holly-go-lightly's passion for the "tongue lashing"scene in episode 2.  
It's mostly smut with an added Sidney/Tom conflict. Bet you didn't know you needed to have your sex scene interrupted by Tom Parker being the worst. Well ... you're welcome!  
Hope you enjoy!  
PS: I have hidden a tiny Andrew Davies related Easter Egg in this. Let me know if you spot it! :)

He awoke with his head buried in her shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of violets in her hair. He sighed in relief and tightened his grip on her waist. He had dreamed of being on the cliffs again, watching the coach take her away. Unable to move or to catch his breath … Unable to stop her from going.

Sidney shook his head and opened his eyes against the light of the early morning. The sun was shining brightly through the transparent, linen curtains. It danced playfully around Charlotte’s brown hair, turning it to shinning gold.

She shifted in her sleep, pressing her body closer to him, her naked skin brushing against his like fine silk. He smiled and lifted his head slightly to trace the line of her body underneath the covers. Her hair was splayed on the pillow, a few tiny violet petals still tangled near her face. The day before, he had taken her in the flower fields, after she had innocently proposed a picnic. His cock twitched at the memory and at the bluish mark he had left on her delicate neck, just above that tiny beauty spot that drove him mad.

_What a brute I am, _he thought, unable to stop himself from grinning. He pressed his lips to the soft, tender spot, determined to make amends. He felt her pulse beating steadily underneath his mouth and he gave it a flick of the tongue for good measure

As his mouth pressed light kisses to her neck, his fingers began to lightly trace the contour of her shoulder, dipping beneath the covers, down her arm. When he had reached the curvature of her hip, she gave out a staggered sigh and inched closer to him, her bottom fitting snuggly in his lap.

Her breath hitched audibly and her abdomen tightened when he brushed his palm across her skin, towards the juncture between her legs. His fingers skimmed the soft hairs there and moved to her inner thigh. She shivered and whimpered until she turned slightly towards him, allowing his hand to slip downwards and nestle at the entry to her heated wetness.

_Such innocence_, he thought amused but as she opened her eyes to look at him, his stomach twisted and his hand was stilled. It never failed to have an effect on him: her doe eyed expression, clear and trusting and so warm she could melt an iceberg. She was a wonder his wife … his Charlotte.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning …” Her response came out breathy and still heavy with sleep. Her wide smile slowly turned shy, a faint play on her lips as he lightly dragged his knuckles across her slit. She averted her eyes and pressed her head into his chest.

He smiled and continued his ministrations, until he drew a strangled moan from her, muffled into his skin before she turned her eyes towards him again, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted.

He leaned forward and kissed her. Just a grazing of the lips, taking his time to taste her. First the upper lip, then the fuller, bottom one, lightly biting on it. He had long given up trying to identify what she tasted of. Raspberries and cream or the purest honey … It no longer mattered … The taste was her, just her and it was as vital to him as any other kind of nourishment.

As he pulled away, her neck craned upwards, trying to reach his lips again.

His finger circled around her bud, slowly and teasingly at first, barely touching it, until he felt her turn wet and slick. The need in her sent a jolt through him and his cock pressed against her hip.

“Hmmm …” His lips kissed a trail across her jawline. Her cheek rested against his and he could hear her light pants as he nibbled on her earlobe. _God_ … “You’re so sweet, Charlotte,” he whispered in her ear. “So sweet and so wet”.

She released a tortured breath and wrapped her arms around his neck, her nails digging into his shoulders. He hissed more in surprise than pain and rewarded her with a quick, pressing stroke that made her hips buck and rise, to meet his hand.

He increased his movements. He kissed her neck and then her cheek until finally settling on her lips again. His tongue slipped into her mouth, finding hers delightfully hungry.

“I want to be inside you,” he said, his lips brushing against her own as he spoke. “Like this”. He circled once with his finger around her entry, spreading her as he pushed inside. Her cunt wrapped around his finger tightly.

“Yes!” she said, breathlessly, her head lulled back into the pillow.

He pushed himself up on his elbow to watch her, as he pumped lazily inside of her with one finger while another circled around her bud in ever increasing movements. She was glorious! She kept her eyes half closed, her brow strained. Her lips were red and glistening from his kisses and she bit on them, attempting to remain silent.

That would not do. He wanted to hear her. He wanted to draw out every moan she had, every sigh, every noise of pleasure until he knew them all by heart. He pushed another finger inside of her, increasing the rhythm of his movements while he stroked her bud harder and faster.

She spread her legs wider in response and arched her back, making the sheet slip further down her body. A small, pink nipple almost peaked from beneath the covers, making his lips tingle in anticipation.

She began squirming under his hand, whimpering and mouthing words that would not come out. “_Yes … Sidney …_” Her hips bucked to the movements of his hand and the wet sound of his fingers pushing into her filled the room, driving him to distraction. _God!_ She was soaked … 

He kissed her again, his mouth desperate to claim her, muffling her unguarded moans. Her chest rose and fell underneath him as he drew her closer. He needed to burry himself inside of her until they both forgot their own names.

“Charlotte,” he moaned between kisses…

“Mr. Parker?”

Through the haze he heard the knocks on the door, accompanied by Mrs. Griffiths’ slightly agitated tone. “Mr. Parker?”

_No! _

He quickly moved in between Charlotte’s thighs. She wrapped her legs around him tightly as he guided his cock to her cunt. The brute in him wanted to push inside of her as quickly as possible, moving wildly and desperately until he found his release. And yet he didn’t. He found that he enjoyed the drawn out torture of spreading her slowly, building the anticipation by slipping inside of her little by little, until he filled her to the brim …

“Mr. Parker! Are you in there?”

The high pitched sound dispelled the heady intoxication surrounding him and he groaned loudly, pushing himself up. “For pity’s sake!”

“No!” Charlotte said, tightening her grip on him and pulling him back down. “Please … You promised you wouldn’t stop!”

She looked up at him, with desperate, hazy eyes and he couldn’t help but smile. He _had_ promised. One night, when they were still at Willingden, still only engaged, she had asked him why he always stopped himself when he kissed her.

_“Do I do it badly?”_ she had said, in an unsure voice that almost undid him. He couldn’t explain to her why he had stopped, afraid of making her feel uncomfortable but he had sworn that once they were married he never would.

“Unless you want me to,” he repeated now, dropping a kiss to her nose.

She shook her head adamantly. “Never!”

“Good.” He kissed her full on the lips, his hands gripping her waist. Let Mrs. Griffiths hang!

“Mister …”

“Later, Mrs. Griffiths! My wife and I are not to be disturbed!” He used the sternest voice he could muster, making Charlotte laugh.

“I am very sorry, Mr. Parker …,” the woman continued, “I wouldn’t presume …”

“I told you we should have stayed at Tom and Mary’s,” Charlotte whispered, moving her hands slowly down his back. She shifted beneath him, rubbing herself against his hardened cock. He wondered sometimes how someone so sweet could manage to torment him so cruelly.

He grunted and grabbed hold of her hips to keep them still. “Behave yourself, Mrs. Parker,” he hissed in her ear.

“Mr. Parker, I … your brother is adamant that he needs to speak to you.”

He lifted his head from the crook of her neck intent on smirking his _you were saying_ but even before he met her eyes, he felt her body stiffening.

“Sidney?” His brother’s voice permeated through the door.

Charlotte’s nails dug into his arms for a mere instant before she relaxed and dropped them to the side, as if relinquishing him.

“It is a matter of great urgency … Sidney!”

The shrillness of Tom’s voice made his blood boil. Not least because of the effect it was having on Charlotte. She had turned white as a sheet and her brown eyes had darkened to almost black. His stomach twisted at the panic he could see, hidden just beneath her stilled features. He had seen that look once before, in Willingden, when Tom had summoned him on business to Sanditon. As soon as he told her he would be back in a week, he had seen the color drain from her cheeks.

“You should go,” she said in a small voice.

He pressed his lips to hers as hard as he could, trying to kiss that miserable uncertainty away from her. “I’m not going anywhere!” _Never again!_

“Sidney, I must insist …,” Tom pressed on.

“Damn him,” he muttered under his breath before shouting: “Are you physically ill?”

“No but …”

“Are Mary and the children well?”

“Yes …”

“Then go away!”

He grinned and winked at Charlotte, trying to draw a smile from her. She gave it her best effort but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“It is a matter that cannot be delayed!” Tom said. “I ask only for a moment of your time.”

“Go,” Charlotte said. “I don’t mind”. She untangled her legs from around his waist and tried to push him off her.

He cursed himself for the lingering pain their parting was still causing her and he cursed Tom too for the ever present reminder. “Charlotte, please …” he said, taking the hand pushing at his chest and kissing each finger. “Stay exactly as you are. I will be right back.”

He searched her eyes, pleading with her until he felt the tension released from her body. She sighed and nodded.

Peeling himself off of her was torture but it couldn’t be helped. He knew Tom all too well. He never gave up when he wanted something and he was perfectly willing to turn himself into a nuisance to everyone in Mrs. Griffiths’ boarding house until he got it.

“Wait for me in the drawing room,” he said towards the door, feeling the bile rise in his throat as he got up from the bed.

He took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself as he picked up the clothes from the chair where he had discarded them and began the awkward dance of pulling up his trousers.

Pulling his trousers over his legs was one thing but pulling them over the still considerable erection he was sporting proved much more difficult. He pushed and winced his way to propriety, while Charlotte laughed. She had turned on her side to watch him and he was relieved that at least his ineptitude was amusing her.

“You know, if you were any kind of loving wife,” he said, finally managing to close the buttons, “you would avert your eyes from this sorry spectacle.”

“I would be a simpleton indeed to avert my eyes from the sight of my naked husband. And you know full well you could never love a stupid wife.”

She measured him from head to toe, biting her lip as she went, in a sudden flash of confidence that was becoming more and more familiar to both of them. He groaned in response, knowing that if he kissed her now, Mrs. Griffiths would be obliged to entertain Tom for the whole of the morning. Instead he pulled his shirt over his head and headed for the door.

“Remember!” he said. “Stay right where you are!”

She turned on her back, her eyes still on him. Her knees rose beneath the sheets and she spread her legs apart. “I remember …”

The thought of the sight hidden beneath the white linen almost made him crash into the door. Damn Tom!

He staggered out of the room, trying to walk as straight as possible and failing miserably. He raced down the stairs, intent on finishing the impending conversation as quickly as possible.

He pushed his way into the drawing room, shutting the door behind him with a thud.

Tom was standing by the window, looking outside. The noise made him turn immediately. Sidney could see the nervous anxiety on his face before his brother managed to conceal it and replace it with a wide, carefree smile and he braced himself for what was to come.

“Ah! You’re up! Good! Good …” He picked up his hat and cane from the table in the middle of the room and came towards him. “Come. I have the most marvelous sight to show you!”

Sidney put his hands behind his back and did not move. “Why are you here, Tom?”

Tom’s smile faltered. “The terrace apartments are finished,” he said. “And they are even better than before, Sidney! Truly, they surpass anything that Brighton has to offer. ”

“I’m glad to hear it. I look forward to seeing them this afternoon, as we already discussed.” He moved to open the door, knowing full well his brother would stop him.

“Wait!” Tom said.

Sidney grit his teeth and tightened his grip on the door handle, until his knuckles turned white.

“I have reserved the grand suite for you and Charlotte. For the entirety of the season,” Tom said, speaking hurriedly. “That’s what I came to tell you.”

“There’s no need for that. We will be leaving Sanditon in a few days.”

“Oh, you must reconsider that, dear brother! What better place to spend your honeymoon in than the new terrace apartments in Sanditon, eh? Truly, Sidney, I don’t think you can find their equal in all of Europe.”

“Tom …,” Sidney said, intent on putting an end to the charade.

“And Charlotte agrees with me, you know. Just the other day, she told me she would like nothing better than to spend the season in Sanditon.”

For a moment, Sidney could hardly hear Tom’s words over the drumming pulse in his ears. He could just imagine sweet, kind Charlotte giving into his brother’s pressure. And Tom taking it as his due, as he always did, without even realizing how much his wife dreaded him.

When he had decided to marry Eliza Champion to save his brother, Tom had become a hurricane for Charlotte. An uncontrollable force that had wreaked havoc and had taken the man she loved away from her. Every time he pushed and prodded for his own interests, Charlotte braced herself for the storm once more. And still, she had insisted they stay with him and Mary during their visit. And still she was prepared to give up her honeymoon to please Tom.

“Sanditon is as much her success as ours,” Tom continued. “Remember what an excellent organizer she proved to be last year. Can you imagine what marvels she will be able to do this season …”

“Is that what you want? To turn my wife into your secretary?” He could feel the anger bubbling over in his answer and Tom must have sensed it too because he remained silent for once. “Do you also need a governess for your children? Perhaps a new scullery maid …”

“Come, Sidney, you know that’s not what I meant. Be fair!”

“All right,” Sidney said, tightening his jaw and moving closer to him. “Let’s be fair then. This isn’t about Charlotte’s wishes or our honeymoon plans, is it? This is about Mr. Pancks.”

Tom averted his eyes but made no attempt to deny it.

“You should know I have already signed a power of attorney for Mr. Pancks. He will represent my interests in the running of Sanditon while I am away and that includes all financial investments.”

Tom’s smile faded into a grim line, all light gone from his eyes. “How could you do this to me, Sidney? Is it not enough that you have to give your approval regarding each decision I take in _my_ town? Must you make other people give me orders now?”

“Sanditon is your vision, Tom. No one can take that away from you. But I cannot afford to leave you in charge of its finances. Not with all of my money tied up in it and not after you accepted Georgiana’s investment.”

“I only accepted Mrs. Molyneux’s offer to save you from marrying Eliza Champion.”

That twisted the knife far too much for Sidney’s composure to bear it. He took one step closer to his brother, his hands balled into fists. “As much as it might benefit you to forget why I engaged myself to Eliza,” he said, through gritted teeth, “do not make the mistake of thinking I have forgotten it. Or indeed the pain that caused Charlotte.”

He caught himself inches away from his brother, snarling at him. It took a moment for him to regain his composure and he stepped back in shock, releasing a reeling breath. He needed to leave before he did something he would regret.

Tom opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

”Mr. Pancks will be here next week,” Sidney said, opening the door. “Perhaps you can afford him the privilege of staying in your terrace apartments.”

“How long will it take for you to forgive me?”

As he looked back at his brother, the sadness in his eyes cooled his anger somewhat. He loved Tom. Truly he did. Even at his worst, he loved him. He had been his closest companion as children, his best friend at the hour of his greatest need and he would always be his family. But however much he loved him, it pained Sidney to admit that he could not bring himself to respect him anymore.

“I do forgive you, Tom,” he said, hoping to mean it one day. “I just don’t trust you.”

***

He leaped up the stairs, the breakfast tray in hand. The tea pot rattled and the crystal jam bowl moved from side to side, but he took no notice. All he could think about was getting back to the room.

All physical urgency had dissipated, thoughts of their coupling no longer a pressing concern. What he wanted … what he needed was to see her. To convince himself once more that she was real and his wife and that all those miserable months spent without her were a distant memory.

He pushed against the door knob with his elbow and entered the room with a large smile on his face, intent on serving her breakfast in bed. The sight that greeted him made his smile fade and the hunger return.

Charlotte was waiting for him in bed where he had left her, propped up on the pillows. The light streamed into the room, playing around and in between her hair, as if floating all around her, bathing her in golden warmth and she was looking at him with a soft expression that twisted his stomach. Her lips were still reddened from his kisses and she had wrapped the sheet around herself a bit too carelessly. Part of it had come loose, revealing a perfect, smooth breast with a small rosy nipple hardened against the cool air.

The breath caught in his throat and he swallowed hard.

“Did Tom tell you about my promise to stay in Sanditon for the season?” she asked.

“Yes …” he said absentmindedly, noticing the violet petals that had trickled down her chest, tiny specks adorning her exposed breast like fine sapphires.

“Oh, no,” she said, drawing his attention with her serious tone. “Have I courted another tongue lashing?”

He almost dropped the tray to the floor.

He searched her face, trying to see if she knew what she had said but she had no inkling of it. No more than she did at Lady Denham’s luncheon. Which at the time, he had thought was just as well, given the amount of filthy thoughts her innocent expression had caused him to entertain.

Since then, he had taken a certain amount of delight in his wife’s innocence and his tutoring of their intimacy. He reveled in the knowledge that he was her first and only lover as well as her friend and husband. Still, there had been things that he had not shared with her, thinking that it was best to postpone.

He saw now that was a mistake. During their time apart, the thing he regretted the most, aside from causing her pain, was all the times he had held back from telling her how beautiful she was and how precious she was to him. All the times he had not danced with her, or avoided her and especially the times he had not kissed her, despite wanting to do it to the point of madness. 

_No more, _he decided putting down the tray on the chest of drawers next to the door. He had promised her he would never stop. It was time for him to be as good as his word.

“What is it?” she said, her brow frowned in concern.

He kept his face still as he came closer to the bed. “I’m afraid you have, Mrs. Parker,” he said, grabbing part of the sheet she was covered with. “Courted a tongue lashing that is …”

He began pulling at the sheet little by little. She scrambled to grab hold of it but he was too quick and soon the white linen was brushing across her leg and pooling at the foot of the bed.

His eyes lingered on her nakedness, unable to tear his gaze away. He was transfixed by the way her breasts rose and fell with her steady breath, the soft turn of her waist and the roundness of her hips, the smoothness of her slightly tanned skin. She kept her legs close together, as a prim and proper lady, but just there, where her thighs kissed, he could see the patch of dark hair that lured his present inclinations.

He feared for a moment that she would try to cover herself but she didn’t. Her eyes remained locked on his, serene and expectant, not a hint of hesitation or nervousness.

“You are so beautiful, Charlotte,” he said, releasing a breath he did not know he was holding.

He lowered himself on the bed and began to crawl towards her. She sat unmoving, beaming under his gaze and as his hands pulled her legs apart so he could settle in between her thighs, he found her warm and pliant.

“I thought you’d be upset with me,” she said, as he leaned in to kiss her.

“Upset?”

“Yes … the tongue lashing?”

He smiled, as he began kissing her neck. He flicked his tongue over the skin and drew a surprised sigh from her. “Might I inquire where you heard that expression?”

He slowly pushed her against the pillows, as his kisses ventured further down her shoulders. He left a wet trail on her collarbone, as his hands began caressing her breasts.

“Oh!” she said as he sucked on her skin. “I … I read it in a book … I think …”

He kissed her in between her breasts, slowly and purposefully before skimming towards her violet adorned one. “What interesting books you must have read, Mrs. Parker,” he said, dropping kisses to the soft fragrant skin around her nipple.

She released a staggered breath and put her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with his hair. “Sidney…”

“Pray do tell me …” His tongue flicked against the hardened mound. “Who was doing the courting?” His teeth grazed the sensitive skin just enough to make her hiss, her hands tightening in his hair. “And who the lashing?” He finally took her hardened nipple in his mouth, sucking on it and making her pant audibly.

“I … I …”

He licked the little mound gently, taking his time to taste the sweetness of the violets, while his hand pinched and rubbed at her other nipple. She panted underneath his mouth, her back arched, allowing him better access.

He released her with a pop, wrapping her arm around her waist before moving to the other breast.

“Sidney …?” she said, in between breaths.

He hummed into her skin, making her shiver.

“The … the tongue lashing …?” she asked hesitantly.

“Working my way to it,” he said, moving down her body.

“Oh! You mean …”

The alarm in her voice made him stop. He looked up at her to find her red cheeked and wide eyed.

“Unless you don’t want me to,” he said, his hand softly caressing the side of her waist, trying to reassure her.

“No …,” she said, biting her lip. “I … Do gentlemen really do that?”

Her little guilty whisper made him laugh softly and he kissed her stomach. “Husbands do that,” he said, kissing one hip and then the other. “Husbands who are madly in love with their wives.”

Her stomach clenched under his lips as he slipped further and further down, before she released a staggered breath and laid down against the pillows. His eyes locked with hers as he positioned himself between her thighs.

He lowered his gaze to see her spread before him. Her cunt was as delicate and pretty as the rest of her, already pink and slick with arousal. She trembled slightly and sighed nervously while he moved his hands up and down her legs to calm her.

After a moment, he leaned in closer, his mouth ghosting kisses along her thigh and just near her cunt. He inhaled the heady scent of her, earth and sea moss mixed with the sweet honey of the violets and he became overcome with the desire to taste her.

His mouth hovered over her for a moment before his tongue darted out and licked up her slit. The sensation caused her hips to buck and a delightful moan escaped her. He moved his hands across her hips, to stop her from slipping away before licking around the sides of her lips.

She whimpered underneath his mouth, growing wetter with each kiss as he settled into a rhythm, licking across the length of her but stopping just short of the small swollen bud that beckoned him. Her hands slipped back into his hair, grasping and caressing aimlessly. She moved her hips up and down, trying to meet his mouth. Languid at first but more staggered and desperate as he continued to avoid kissing her where she most needed to be kissed

“Sidney, please,” she pleaded, already lost in the wanting and her urgency sent a shiver through him, his cock pressing against the material of his trousers.

After a few more deliciously torturous licks, his lips wrapped around her aching bud, drawing out a sharp sigh of pleasure from her that almost undid him. His eyes locked on her as he began to lick at the small bundle of nerves, with a firm and quick tongue, sucking on it from time to time.

A thin sheen of sweat had spread across her skin, making her glisten in the light. She arched her back, hands grasping at his shoulders one moment, while the next she grabbed fistfuls of the mattress. Her skin was flushed and hot beneath his mouth and he moaned against her cunt, as his fingers moved to tease at her entry. She gasped at the intrusion and lifted her hips to meet his hand. She was so wet that two of his fingers slipped in without any resistance.

Overcome with need, he moved his mouth higher up, pressing her body into the bed, as he started licking at her bud harder and faster. His fingers pumped inside of her again and again, as his tongue kept her prisoner underneath him.

“Oh!” she screamed, unable to control herself anymore. “Oh, please! I need … I need …”

He knew what she needed. His fingers fucked her quick and hard while he sucked on her, making her clench all around his lips. Her body trembled beneath him as she moaned her release in a gorgeous cacophony of sounds that began and ended with his name.

***

Long after they had reached the peak together, they lingered in bed, naked and sated, their damp, sticky bodies tangled up in each other. She nuzzled against his neck, drifting in and out of sleep. Her essence still lingered on his tongue and he wondered if there had ever been anything that tasted as sweet as that.

“We could stay in Sanditon, you know …” she said, looking up at him and resting her chin on his chest.

There was no sheet to cover her now, her hair was a tangled mess and her lips were red as cherries. Another woman would have looked debauched. Charlotte looked like an angel …

He caressed her cheek and wrapped his finger around a curl of her hair. “I have accepted that our fortunes are tied to Sanditon and I will dispatch my responsibility to it for our sake, and Georgiana’s … even for Tom, although he will not thank me for it. But I will not relinquish our honeymoon to his schemes.”

“No but Sanditon is not just a responsibility … it’s also the place where we fell in love.”

Her eyes were warm chocolate and they drew out a smile out him as they always managed to do. “It has that claim at least …”

“I think it the most beautiful place in all the world,” she said, sighing dreamily.

“Wait until you see Paris,” he said. He had meant to keep it a secret until they had begun their journey but seeing the surprised, excited look that settled on her features as she grasped his meaning, he could not bring himself to regret having told her.

“Paris?” she whispered.

“Hmm … the Alps too … and then Rome and Venice …” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her lips softly. “There is a whole world outside of Sanditon, Charlotte, and I mean to show you as much of it as I can.”

She smiled widely. “You would spoil me?”

“Nothing could spoil you,” he said, surprised at the reverence in his own voice.

As he pulled her close to him, his eyes wandered to the window. Outside, in the distance, he could see the sea. They would go on their grand tour and they would have adventures and then they would return to Sanditon. The thought no longer caused him resentment.

Sanditon was not the burden it had been to him once or the curse it had turned into when he had lost her. There were no more fires in Sanditon to turn his hopes and dreams to ashes and no more coaches to take her where he could not follow. There was only golden light and violet petals.


End file.
